


All The Times I Looked At The Longing On your Face

by Elysya



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: DGHDA Christmas Mini Bang, F/F, Fluff, High School AU, M/M, Mild Angst, Three Times Plus One, so many high school thropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 10:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13144815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elysya/pseuds/Elysya
Summary: Three times Farah and Amanda had to look at Dirk and Todd pining after each other, plus one."She noticed the signs of a serious crush over the first three months of her freshman year, when his brother had zoomed out during a conversation they were having at lunch, she had followed his wandering eyes and she had seen a boy with a yellow sweater trying to find a table.“He’s got the yellow one again,” Todd had mumbled. Amanda had asked herself if her brother even remembered she was there.Then, a few days later, she had seen Todd scribble the name “Dirk Gently” over and over again on the edges of his history book while pretended to study at home. She hadn’t said anything, but her mind was already programming a whole operation."





	All The Times I Looked At The Longing On your Face

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! Happy Holidays! I hope you're having a great time right now!  
> This fic is basically an excuse to write shameless high school tropes without having to feel bad about it, so if that's not your cup of tea, you've been warned ;)
> 
> This work is part of the DGHDA Chirstmans Mini Bang, find the link for the art on my tumblr (url: holisticagent)
> 
> This OS is a gift for the best group chat to ever exist. Holistic babes, happy chirstmas.

_**I** _ _**.** _

“For the last time: no, you can’t put up audition posters, Amanda,” Todd grunted as he closed his locker to reveal the face of his sister, lurking behind him like a shadow.

“Geez, bro. When did you become a boring sap?” Amanda retrieved her pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her black leather jacket, she was about to light it up when Todd snatched it out of her hands.

“Stop! Do you want to start the fire alarm or what?” He put the cigarette in his own jacket. He’d remind himself to give it back to her after school.

“See! You’re boring. High school has made you boring,” she teased him, a little smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

They started to walk together, without either of them having to say anything else. They always moved like one person, Todd was only three years older than his sister and he didn’t remember a time when she wasn’t in his life, and he didn’t want to; living with amanda was the easiest thing in his life, and she felt their bond even stronger.

She had never gone more than a few hours without talking to her brother, he was always ready to protect her and care for her, even when - at the tender age of eight years old - she had experienced her first panic attack in front of the whole mall. Their parents hadn’t known how to deal with the situation, but Todd had managed to take his sister’s hand and stay at her side as she regained control of her body.

Eight years had passed, Amanda had learned how to control her agoraphobia thanks to a bunch of friends and a good therapist, but that didn’t mean she had left Todd’s side for a second while doing that.

She noticed the signs of a serious crush over the first three months of her freshman year, when his brother had zoomed out during a conversation they were having at lunch, she had followed his wandering eyes and she had seen a boy with a yellow sweater trying to find a table.

“He’s got the yellow one again,” Todd had mumbled. Amanda had asked herself if her brother even remembered she was there.

Then, a few days later, she had seen Todd scribble the name “Dirk Gently” over and over again on the edges of his history book while pretended to study at home. She hadn’t said anything, but her mind was already programming a whole operation.

She had tried to gather information about this guy, but everyone told her the same things: he was a genius who guessed all the questions for the tests a day early, some people thought he had a whole rainbow in his closet, and he was weirdly appealing. No one knew a thing about his family, what he liked or didn’t like.

He was like a book no one had ever dared to open.

“I don’t want to waste my high school years! I want to do something cool, and a band is the coolest thing I can think of.” Amanda was still trying to get her brother to listen to her, but Todd was oddly resilient about not singing or playing in front of people.

“Then ask Martin, or the rest of the gang. I’m sure they will be more than happy to form a band with you.”

“Sure, and what am I supposed to make Vogel play?”

They stopped in front of Amanda’s first class of the day, kids were already rushing in even if the bell hadn’t rang already.

“The drums?” Todd suggested.

Amanda snorted, she shook her head and leaned in to give her brother a hug.  “I’ll see you later.”

Todd stood there until he saw his sister taking a seat in the third row, far away from the teacher but no far enough to be suspected of not listening to the lecture. He took a deep breath, fixed the straps of his messenger bag and turned around, unaware that Amanda’s head was already plotting several schemes he wouldn’t approve of.

Lunch time in a high school was the worst thing a girl with socially awkward skills can be put through, Farah had been warned about that by his father and brother before starting her freshman year, but that didn’t mean she grew used to the loud noises, the confusion or the mixed smell of sweat and poor cafeteria food.  

Farah still hated lunch time, but ever since she had befriended Dirk at the beginning of the school year the whole hour had become more bearable thanks to his bright personality. Many people thought he was almost overwhelming, but Farah had instantly took a liking to the weird kid from the other side of the pond, and with time she had learned he was so much more than the new weirdo in town.

He spent their time together at lunch talking about strange things he saw on his way to and from school, entertaining Farah enough to make her forget about the ominous teenagers around them, and in turn she just had to listen to him for Dirk to be happy. She didn’t think he felt really loved at home, not that he talked about it a lot, in truth Farah didn’t know a thing about his life outside from school but it was okay, they worked well in the little dynamic they had created for themselves.

The only problem was that lately Dirk had taken an interest in one of the boys that shared his Astronomy class, and every time he passed by them Dirk spaced out, stopped talking and said, “Oh. There he is,” in the most smitten voice Farah had ever heard.

So what if he had noticed the cute punk girl that always walked with him? She was probably his girlfriend, even if she had never seen them hold hands or kiss each other goodbye, or do anything besides hugging occasionally they still acted like they were very close.

It was nice to think they were both pining after people they could never be with.

“Oh, there he is,” Dirk murmured, his eyes were following the pair’s movement as they reached a table on the other side of the room.

Farah sighed. “Dirk? Dirk?”

Her friend shook his head and returned to his chips as if nothing had ever happened. “As I was saying, that horse I saw yesterday was uncannily similar to-”

“Dirk, stop. Please.”

He did stop, but he looked confused by the interruption.

“Do you realize how crazy this is?” Farah asked, and obviously she didn’t expect an answer because she immediately added, “Of course you don’t. You’re head over hills and it’s crazy because he has a girlfriend and is probably straight.”

“Girlfriend?” Dirk laughed. “That’s not his girlfriend. That’s his sister.”

Farah hummed under her breath. She never answered to anything Dirk said, not directly, which was nerve-wracking for him at first, but he had grown used to her quiet moments of reflection.

They had never talked about relationships, not because they didn’t want to but the topic had simply never been brought up so Dirk could only guess where Farah’s affection lay (he had a sense the news of Todd’s status was interesting for his friend, too) and he hoped she didn’t try to make a move on Todd, otherwise his already slim chances of gathering up the courage to talk to him would disappear instantly.

After a while, Farah looked at him and said, “I didn’t know that.”

Dirk wished he could read inside her mind. He took a bite of his salad.

Suddenly, in a twirl of black, Todd’s sister sat next to Dirk leaving next to no space between them; she was leaning across the table to stare at Farah, who was fairly confused of the sudden change in the situation.

“Uhm,” Farah blinked a few times, trying to understand if she was having some weird hallucination. “Can I help you?”

“We need to talk,” the other girl whispered. She turned to look at Dirk, then back to Farah. “In private.”

“Oh. I-” Farah didn’t have the time to finish her sentence because the girl had taken her hand and walked out of the caffetteria. Farah managed to give Dirk an apologetic look, as he was still sitting at their table and looking like someone had taken to ground away from under his feet.

Dirk was left alone, and confused. He glanced in Todd’s direction, trying to understand if it was all an elaborate joke, but the other boy was just as confused as they all were, searching for his sister with his eyes.

Dirk got up, he threw the rest of his lunch in a garbage can nearby and left the cafeteria without a second thought. He didn’t feel comfortable without Farah by his side.

***

“What- what are you doing?” Farah asked once the girl that kidnapped her had left her hand.

They had stopped running inside the girl’s bathroom on the other side of the school. Amanda knew they were deserted during lunch, so she had seized the opportunity. Farah, on the other hand, didn’t feel safe in a bathroom with a strange looking girl she had never seen before.

“I’m Amanda, by the way. Cool jacket.” She offered Farah her hand and a small smile.

The other girl shook Amanda’s hand, if a bit reluctantly. “Farah.”

“I know, Dirk talks about you all the time.”

“You are a friend of Dirk’s?” Farah found the situation even more suspicious. Dirk would have never hid from her the fact that he had found another person to talk to, even if they had only greeted each other in passing after geology class.

“Not exactly. My brother practically stalks him everyday, but not in a creepy way, more like a i-have-a-crush-on-you-please-notice-me way. That’s why I brought you here!”

Amanda was so excited, Farah didn’t have it in her to stop her bantering, and most importantly she had just discovered a very important news.

“Wait. Your brother is Todd Brotzman?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re telling me that… Todd Brotzman has a crush on Dirk?” Farah said everything really slowly. She needed to understand everything correctly or it would all blow up in Dirk’s face, and he didn’t deserve that. She didn’t want to hurt him.

“Yes, dude. I just told you.”

“This is amazing! This fixes everything.” Farah started walking in circle, moving her hands back and forth as she spoke. “If Todd has been watching Dirk from afar, and you’re telling me you’re one hundred percent sure he likes Dirk, then he doesn’t have to be miserable anymore! We can help him and he can finally be happy. But you didn’t tell me you’re one hundred percent sure. Are you?” She finally turned back to look at Amanda, who had her arms folded in front of her chest and was smiling.

“You’re like super insane. I love it.”

“Amanda. Are you sure Todd likes Dirk?” Farah repeated.

“Yes. Totally. Heart-eyes and all that shit.”

“Then we just have to make them talk to each other,” Farah stated. She could see the end of all the longing and pining; maybe this way Dirk would actually find a way to talk to someone else beside her.

“About that…” Amanda got closer to Farah, her smile turning into a wicked grin. “I have an idea.”

“What idea?”

“Aren’t you in the football team?”

_**II.** _

Todd decided his sister needed to change schools when Amanda forced him to attend the first game of the school’s football team. He didn’t even understand the sport, everyone kept running around on the field and he had no clue why.

Amanda hadn’t even wanted to take a seat, so they were just standing near the benches reserved for the players, waiting for a friend of Amanda’s (or so she had said) before they could finally sit and take advantage of the warmth all the people pressed together provided.

Of course, taking body heat from strangers pressed all around him wasn’t actually Todd’s favorite way to warm up, but when they got dressed his sister had insisted on wearing matching leather jackets, and he was freezing, so being peaky wasn’t exactly in his agenda.

He exhaled the last puff of smoke before throwing his cigarette on the ground, stepping over it with the tip of his boots.

“Hey, ‘Manda. How long till your friend arrives? The game is about to start, we can’t stay here.”

Amanda was biting her nails and tapping her feet nervously on the ground, looking back and forth in the direction of the parking lot. “She’s coming. Must have been caught in traffic.” She took out her phone, sent a quick message and put it back in her pocket.

“Are you okay?” Todd asked. He hadn't seen his sister so anxious in a while.

“Yes, it’s just… there are a lot of people here.” She scanned the crowd, trying to find an empty seat that could let her walk away if she felt overwhelmed during the night, but it looked like all the spots near corridors were taken.

She sighed, distressed.

“Amanda, are you sure you want to do this?” Todd put an hand on her arm, trying to catch her attention.

She turned around and nodded. “Yes. I- oh, look! They’re here!” she pointed at two moving figures, walking in their direction.

One was a girl with afro hair and a football uniform, the other was a boy with a bright yellow jumper who Todd couldn’t quite make out.

“They? What do you mean they?”

Amanda rectified, “I was waiting for friends, plural. That’s Farah, and the other one-”

“Shit,” Todd whispered.

“Oh, so you do recognize him. I hoped you would, after all the stalking you’ve been doing,” she joked, punching him in the arm.

Todd didn’t immediately react, he needed a few seconds before the information sunk in: Dirk Gently was coming his way - with a friend of his sister’s - to watch the game with them, which meant he would need to talk to Todd since Amanda and her friend would most likely fall into conversation, leaving the two of them to make small talks.

He started to panic.

“No! No, no, no. No way. I’m not staying here.” He was about to leave, but Amanda dragged him by the collar of his jacket like a dog on a leash.

“Come on! What do you have to lose?” Amanda pushed her brother back at her side.

“Amanda, stop!” he whispered. Todd knew that Dirk could hear him and he was so terrified he couldn’t bear to look away from the moving figures in front of him, not even to yell at his sister.

Amanda could hear Farah’s voice, trying to trick Dirk into moving without looking away from her.

They got closer and closer, Todd wanted to run away but he wasn’t quick enough. Suddenly Farah and Dirk were right in front of them; Dirk hadn’t even noticed Todd’s presence, too busy talking about the latest cat he had rescued for the nice lady who lived near the school; he froze as soon as he turned around to find the boy he was crushing on since the beginning of the school year right in front of him.

He was a head taller than Todd so the whole “gazing into each other’s eyes” thing Amanda had planned was failing miserably, but both the boys were blushing all the way to the tip of their ears.

They made quite the odd pair: Dirk had a dark coat on, under it was his signature yellow sweater over a shirt with some weird pattern on it; he looked like the perfect English school boy. Todd was the image of the stereotypical bad boy with his eyebrow-piercing and his dark leather jacket, staring up at Dirk with his huge blue eyes like he hung the whole solar system.

Meanwhile, Amanda and Farah greeted each other and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Dirk tried to say something that would make sense, but instead he just cleared his throat, took a step back, turned around and looked at Farah.

Todd sighed deeply, moving his gaze to the grass beneath his feet. He took out the pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and lit a new one.

“Farah,” Dirk called, turning to her friend and shutting down the conversation she was having with Amanda. “I shockingly feel a bit nauseous. Do you mind if I, uhm, go away?”

“This is really important for me, Dirk. It’s my first game.” Farah showed Dirk the number forty-two on her uniform.

Dirk looked at Todd, briefly. He felt like he was going to implode. “Fine. I’ll stay, but it’s only because I’m a good friend.”

Farah smiled, she tapped him on the shoulder and left to join her teammates on the field.

Amanda and the boys were left alone, the air between them was tense and awkward: Todd kept his gaze fixed on the cigarette he was smoking, and Dirk had the expression of a puppy who had been recently beaten up by its owner.

Amanda wasn’t really sure how to smoothen things up, so she just inhaled and suggested, “Let’s go find a few seats, before any more people arrive. Come on, Todd.” She took her brother by the arm and dragged him along with her. When she turned around a few seconds later, she noticed Dirk wasn’t following them, so she shouted, “Hey, weirdo! Hurry up, I don’t want to leave you alone.”

Dirk perked up, he smiled slightly and run to catch up to them.

As Todd watched the whole exchange, a few things crossed his mind: Dirk couldn’t run for shit, he was really insecure, and Todd was falling even harder now that he knew how adorable Dirk looked when he blushed.

“Shit,” he whispered.

“Did you say something, bro?”

Todd shook his head, “I said, that I found a seat.” He pointed at a space left just in the middle of a bench, not too far from the actual field but still high enough that they would have to make quite the trip if they wanted to take a breath of fresh air.

There were so many people. Amanda gulped, she went stiff against her brother just as Dirk caught up to them.

Todd noted instantly that something wasn’t right with her, so he put himself in front of Amanda and forced her to look him in the eyes. “Amanda?”

She was shaking so hard Todd found it difficult to keep her steady.

“It’s just so packed, Todd. I don’t- I don’t know if I can do it.”

Todd took her hand in his. “Of course you can, just take small breaths and walk with me.”

They sat - Amanda was in the middle between Todd and Dirk - just in time to see the coach whistling the start of the match. Amanda was still looking around at the people sitting all around them, unaware of the little girl who wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“Are you okay?” Dirk asked her, putting one hand on her knee.

Amanda smiled at him, she covered his hand with hers and nodded. “Yes, better now. Just- I have to get used to this.”

“Oh, I know exactly how you feel. Before I came to this school I wasn’t really used at having… people all around me, and even if I never had the - breath-y thing you just had, I was really really uncomfortable. Good thing Farah rescued me.” He beamed, rocking slightly back and forth on his seat. He accidentally bumped into the guy behind him,whom almost dropped his drink on top of his date’s dress; Dirk quickly turned to apologize, “Oh, I’m so sorry. Sorry.”

Amanda laughed. “You are so much crazier than I thought you would be.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Totally good. You’re awesome.”

Dirk smiled. “Thank you… Amanda, was it?”

She nodded, then she turned to his brother who was finishing off his cigarette. “What do you think, Todd?”

He pretended like he hadn't been listening to everything the two said, but he wasn’t really good at acting. “Of what?”

“Dirk, obviously.”

Dirk was looking closely at the sleeves of his jumper, making them peak out from under his green jacket so he could wrap his fingers in the sleeves and protect his hands from the cold. His clothes were a little too big for his frame, almost like they were handed to him and not brought for him.

Todd blinked. “I-” he turned to the match: Farah had the ball, she was running as fast as she could, he figured she was doing something important but couldn’t for the life of him figure out what. “I need some air.” He got up and left, Amanda could see his figure moving in the direction of the parking lot, where they had parked the car.

Dirk tried not to look too heartbroken, but he was failing miserably.

Amanda bumped his shoulder with hers, to make him feel better. “Don’t mind my brother. He can be a bit of a jackass sometimes.”

Dirk didn’t answer, he just looked at the field.

After the match, Farah found Amanda looking at the tip of her shoes, her back leaning against her car, waiting for Todd; she got closer to the younger girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I know your plan didn’t work, but you don’t have to beat yourself down.”

Amanda snorted. “How’s Dirk?”

“In my car. Blaming himself for not doing anything,” Farah admitted.

“See? Epic failure.”

Farah looked around, trying to find something that would cheer up Amanda. Finally, she saw one of the cheerleaders going around to promote the Winter Ball: a prom everyone had insisted on organizing to make sure the Seniors had the chance to enjoy themselves before the stress of finals took over.

“I have another idea,” Farah said. Her eyes were gleaming and Amanda was almost scared of the grin on her face. “How do you feel about dancing gowns?”

_**III.** _

Todd rolled his eyes again. He had been doing it a lot that afternoon, he had lost count sometime between the tenth and the twelfth time Amanda had asked him the same question.

“No, Amanda. I'm not taking you to the Winter Ball. It's stupid.”

“Come on!” Amanda whined, launching herself on top of her brother’s bed. “You think you're so punk but you're actually quite annoying.”

***

“That doesn’t mean I want to be dragged into a room full of sweaty teenagers.” Dirk crossed his arms in front of his chest, glaring as Farah walked a few steps in front of him.

“Then how do you expect to meet new people if you don’t go in a place with people?” Farah asked, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and blocking Dirk’s path in the process.

Dirk didn’t know what to say, he let himself think for a few seconds before he muttered, “Coincidences?”

***

“You’re so full of bullshit, Todd,” Amanda challenged her brother, eyes still planted to the ceiling above.

Todd opened and closed his mouth, offended. “I’m not… I don’t have any kind of bullshit anywhere near me.”

Amanda sat up immediately, eyes wide and grin plastered on her face. “Then prove it. Bring me to the ball. Just an hour, if you still want to leave after that we can go and smoke a joint behind the gym or something.”

Todd rolled his eyes. Again.

***

“Fine.”

Farah smiled, she wanted to hug him but she didn’t know if that was really appropriate so she grabbed the stripes of her backpack tighter and bit her lip, nodding.

“You’re awfully excited about this considering all your problems with social interactions,” Dirk observed, walking past her to resume her walk to Farah’s house.

“I think it’s time to try something new, don’t you?”

***

“Well, I guess we can do that,” Todd conceded, raising his shoulders and looking at the pavement.

Amanda squealed, she launched herself in her brother’s arms so hard she almost made them both fall.

“You won’t regret it, I promise,” she said in Todd’s ear as she rocked them back and forth.

Todd hugged her to stay upright, he smiled into his little sister’s shoulders and giggled. Nothing that made her that happy could ever be bad.

***

Todd would have never imagined himself driving to the school’s gym on a saturday night, especially not dressed in a rental suit complete with slim tie and crispy white shirt. He had been adamant on leaving the eyebrow piercing, but Amanda had insisted on the jacket and pants.

“I hate this shoes,” he said. “It’s fucking hard to drive with these things on.”

Amanda was checking her phone, sending messages every two seconds. “It’s dress code, Todd.”

“Easy for you to say, you can wear your punk ass black dress and everyone will compliment you.” He took advantage of the red light he had to stop and glance at his sister, who was still sending texts. “Who are you texting, anyway?”

Amanda looked at Todd with her big brown eyes, acting like an innocent child. “Farah.”

“Farah? She’s coming, too?”

“With Dirk.”

Todd almost bumped into another car. “With Dirk? Really? After I acted like a total dickhead at the match?”

Amanda bat her eyelashes. “That doesn’t mean you have to talk to him.”

Todd sighed pulling into the school’s parking lot. “We’re here,” he said, ignoring completely his sister’s matchmaking ways.

They could hear the music coming from the gym, the kind of crappy house tunes you’d expect from a frat party. Every spot was occupied by rental cars, used by the teenagers to impress their friend and make the parents spend more money in a night their sons and daughters will most likely regret.

Todd hated that kind of parties, he asked himself why he decided to attend in the first place for the hundredth time that night.

“Come on, we’re late!” Amanda got off the car and banged on the hood to catch his attention.

“Right,” he said to himself. he was there because Amanda had practically begged him, and used reverse psychology on him. He loved his sister, but sometimes he wished she wasn’t so goddamn smart.

Entering the gym felt like stepping into a rom-com coming-of-age movie. Todd could differentiate between the jocks, cheerleaders and all around famous people at school and the lesser important peers, the ones he could easily blend in with (at least for the night, when his piercing was more of a quirk than a sign to single himself out from all the normal people).

The soft pink and blue lights bathed everything in warm colors that mixed and shifted, making the room look like it had been taken out of a dream. Todd appreciated the silver ornaments wrapped around the tables and benches: they were classy, and glittered when caught by the colored spotlights.

There, in the back of the gym, sitting alone, Todd could see Dirk dressed in a dark blue suit with a black shirt and blue tie, with the same sad expression he had when Todd decided to leave Amanda and him alone at the match.

Todd could feel the ugly burden of shame on his shoulder when he looked at the boy.

Amanda was looking all around, her eyes were lit with wonder; he really didn’t want to take that away from her because he had acted like a douchebag.

“Hey, where is Farah?”

Amanda brought a hand on her face. “Dude! I forgot, she’s waiting for me outside. Just- wait. I’m coming.” She run outside as fast as her heels could allow her (which was not fast at all) and Todd was left alone to deal with his self consciousness.

Dirk raised his head, and immediately saw Todd, as if he was drawn to him somehow. Todd wanted to look away, but the look of sad resignation on Dirk’s face was too strong a memory to make him back-off again.

Todd really cared about Dirk, even if they had never really talked, he felt like - if nothing - they could become great friends. He couldn’t even explain why, it was a feeling deeply rooted in his gut that had taken residence inside him as soon as he had seen the strange British guy for the first time in astronomy class.

Todd took all the courage he had in him, and moved one step after the other until he was right in front of Dirk’s depressed figure. He didn’t know what was going to happen from that moment on, but it was clearly a better option than walking away with the knowledge that Todd had made Dirk miserable again.

Todd took a deep breath as Dirk raised his gaze to meet his; Dirk’s eyes were asking so many questions all in one second, and Todd found himself overwhelmed.

He added “the awesome expressivity of his face” to the endless list of things that he liked about Dirk.

Todd exhaled, fixed the lapel of his jacket, and said, “Hey.”

***

Amanda almost tripped over her heels to catch Farah, who was waiting for her with her back to Todd’s car.

Amanda was almost falling for the third time when she decided to take off her shoes. “Fuck it,” she muttered, then she ran all the way to her friend.

“Farah. I’m sorry. I’m so freaking sorry, Todd- I- I forgot.” She stopped to take a few breaths, putting one hand on Farah’s shoulder. “Sorry. I’m here now, though.”

Farah took Amanda’s hand. “Relax. What happened?”

“I don’t know, but we have to go if we want to catch the important part.”

“Can’t we just stay out her for a while? I don’t really like closed and crowded spaces.”

Amanda snorted. “Me neither,” she confessed. “Actually, I almost had a panic attack when I had to control those two at the match.”

“Amanda!” Farah’s eyes widened comically. “You should have told me!”

“We needed to bring those two together, my brother is such a sap since he got this incredible crush on Dirk.”

“Yes, but don’t you think your health comes first?”

Amanda shrugged. “He’s my brother. I can do anything for him, and besides… I can handle my anxiety”

Farah smiled. “I have a feeling you can handle anything, Amanda.”

Amanda blushed, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, “Thanks. You’re pretty cool, too, you know.”

The girls stayed outside talking for half an hour before Amanda started to shiver in her sleeveless dress and Farah insisted they went inside so she could warm up and see what the boys were up to.

The last thing they imagined was seeing Todd and Dirk near the dancefloor. Dirk was waving his hands left and right, talking about something they couldn’t hear over the loud music; Todd was next to him, watching his face like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“I guess they didn’t need our help after all,” Farah noted, amused.

Amanda patted Farah on the back. “I think a little nudge won’t hurt. Wait a sec.” She walked to the DJ, a pair of old sneakers had replaced her impractical heels (the blessing of having a spare pair in the back of her brother’s car) and she was able to hop near the console without any problem.

***

“So that’s how I managed to return Shitten to her owner,” Dirk concluded.

“Shitten?” Todd raised one eyebrow, his hands folded in front of his chest.

“That’s the name of the kitten, Todd. I don’t know who had the bright idea to give it to her but I guess they don’t love her very much.”

“Where do you live, anyway? I don’t know a lot of places where you can find a tree like the one you just described.”

Dirk suddenly shut down, his eyes did the sad thing again, the one that had convinced Todd to go and talk with him in the first place. He wanted to apologize, even if he didn’t know what he had done wrong, he just wanted to have the cheerful version of Dirk back.

Just as Todd was about to talk, the music changed into something slow, a song Todd hadn’t heard in a very long time that forced him to smile despite the situation.

Dirk took the opportunity to change the subject immediately, “What is it?”

“It’s this song… Water, by Ra Ra Riot.” He waited to see if the name meant anything to Dirk, but he didn’t get anything that suggested he knew the song so he took the liberty to go on, “I listened to it with Amanda when she needed to calm down after an attack. She hasn’t needed it in months.”

“Speaking of your sister, she has a nice little theory about you,” Dirk said.

Todd was a bit confused, he blinked twice and asked, “And what is that?”

Dirk gulped on air, he danced on his heels and generally took every chance to delay his answer. “She texted me saying that you might… uhm… have a small crush on me?”

“Dirk-”

He didn’t let Todd finish. He had sweared himself he would say everything he had to say before he could regret it. “And I was particularly happy about it because I might have a small crush on you, back. So.”

***

Farah had reached Amanda at the DJ console, and they had decided to stay behind and watch the boys, hoping Todd would catch the subtle hint his sister was giving him.

“Do you think it worked?” Farah asked, looking at Amanda’s profile.

Amanda giggled. “I think it did.” She pointed her finger in their friend's direction. “Look.”

Todd was taking Dirk by the sleeves of his jacket, guiding him toward the dance floor; he stopped a few seconds to explain Dirk how slow dancing worked, moving their hands so they could be wrapped in some kind of awkward embrace to sway from side to side. They weren’t going in time with the music, not really, but they didn’t seem to care at all.

Todd said something that made Dirk laugh so hard he had to bow his head and hide his face in Todd’s shoulder, which was really awkward since Drik was a whole head taller than Todd. Soon enough they were laughing more than they were dancing, and people were staring to stare at them.

“I don’t understand if they are being laughed at because they look like they don’t know what they’re doing, or because they are two guys,” Farah wondered aloud.

Amanda looked at her, she smirked and said, “Care to find out?” She offered her hand to Farah, nodding to the dance floor.

Farah started to hyperventilate. “No. No way. I mean, I don’t even know what to do with my feet, and I’ve never taken lessons and I’m super awkward. I just want to stay here and watch from far away. I’m fine. I’m cool. I’m-”

“Overthinking it,” Amanda finished. “Do you think I took professional lessons or some shit? Let’s just dance, who cares about those fuck-os.”

Farah took Amanda’s hand.

**_IV._ **

“It’s completely insane, Dirk,” Todd said for the tenth time in as many minutes. He was balancing three astronomy textbooks on his hands, trying not to fall down the steps outside school.

“I’m telling you, Todd. If you let me teach you, you can pass the finals with a B,” Dirk assured him. “Also, can you put those books in your backpack, please?” He stopped right in front of the street, where Amanda was waiting for them.

“Why?”

“Because I find it extremely insulting that we are not holding hands right now.”

Todd rolled his eyes, but he was smiling anyway. “Here, put them in for me,” he said, handing Dirk the books.

“You two are so gross. I almost preferred you when you moped around all day,” Amanda said as she ran in a quick jog to join them.

“Hi, sis,” Todd greeted her with a wave of his hand.

“Hello, sap.”

“Hi, Amanda!” Dirk peaked from behind Todd, closing the backpack and putting himself between the two siblings.

“Hi, Dirk.”

“Wait, he’s ‘Dirk’ and I’m ‘sap’, now?” Todd observed, offended.

“I like him better than you,” Amanda said simply, smiling at the fake annoyance on her brother’s face.

Amanda’s phone vibrated and she took it out to check the message; meanwhile Todd mouthed, “She likes you better now,” at Dirk, who took Todd’s hand in response and smiled fondly at the both of them.

“Crap, it’s Farah. Football practice’s over. Gotta go, love you both. Don’t be too gross without me to make fun of you.” She kissed them both on the cheek and run to the back of the school.

“Does Amanda still pretend Farah and her are only friends?” Dirk asked, making their joined hand sway together between them as they started their walk to Todd’s house.

“Yeah. Still waiting for her to come to her senses and just ask her out.”

“We should act as matchmakers! Imagine all the double dates we could go on. There are endless possibilities,” Dirk said, excited.

“Got any plans?” Todd was afraid of the answer, he didn’t even know why he had asked.

“Actually, I do!” Dirk started to ramble on and on about impossible scenarios to trap Farah and Amanda in, unaware that he was just starting a loop that had already been closed the night of the ball.


End file.
